[isaiah 40:31]

December 20, 2011

Amazing how God can speak to us even when we are not the most attentive listeners!

I got invited to an English-language Bible study group today and to be completely honest, I went because frankly, I wasn’t looking forward to spending an evening all by myself watching movies on String Theory. (Granted, String Theory is fascinating and I love that kind of stuff, but I am an introvert who desperately needs people… go figure). So I went.

We ate (Colleen is one of the best cooks ever – and Amy’s dessert was great too) and then settled in front of a TV to watch an episode from Beth Moore’s series on Esther. I wasn’t present at the previous four meetings and I am not really a fan of Beth Moore (not her personally, just her style), so I was listening, writing down interesting thoughts, but my mind kept wandering.

One of the things I don’t like about BM’s style is the fact that she speaks rather loud all the time. There’s a good designer’s quote which keeps popping into my mind: “If you make everything bold, nothing is bold.” That’s why it was hard for me to concentrate on the message. I kept thinking – this is it – the most important part – but she just kept talking and talking (good stuff, but, geez, why not speak quieter?) I guess one of the reasons for my automatic response to louder message as the “key” is because in Russian / Ukrainian, intonation means almost as much (and sometimes even more) than words. The way you say words matters a LOT. Anyway… that’s off the topic.

In the end, she mentioned one of my favorite passages (which, I suspect, will become even more favorite now) and it drew my attention:

But those who wait for the Lord shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun]; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired.

Isaiah 40:31, AMP

Wait for the Lord.

We got used to that phrase and I don’t know about you, but I usually thought of it in a traditional sense – trust God and He’ll figure stuff out. However, the way Beth Moore put it transformed the meaning, bringing a whole new realm, an entirely new dimension to the passage.

Those who wait for the Lord – and not for something to happen or someone to do something – their strength will be renewed.

That is my problem. I wait for the thing to happen. I pray to God for specific things – forgetting sometimes (often) that He might do it completely differently. And that’s why my strength is not renewed – I am not waiting on God, I am waiting for someTHING.

After the video ended, we shared prayer needs and talked and it became obvious that was the thing that touched all of us.

I sat there, dumbfounded, because it seemed so obvious to me now that I’ve heard it.

What about you? Do you wait for God to do what He has planned or do you wait for a specific thing you have planned?